Wow. This one is a head scratcher for me. I can't ever remember a tech product failing in the market and then being brought back shortly after in essentially identical form.
Uh - maybe because it didn't fail?
Apple never made any statements about poor sells, or how it did in the market. Apple never made any statements about why the 1st gen was discontinued.
So what do you base your "failing in the market" statement on? Hopefully not ANALyst who pull shit out of their ass...
PS - we have 8 x 1st gen HomePods.
It failed. It was too expensive (why else did Apple cut the price? Apple never cuts prices), and restricted to Apple’s own ecosystem. Those issues haven’t been resolved but at least it’s$m $50 less than the old one, though missing some hardware soo really about the same price.
Besides, just before it was discontinued people were buying them and the serial number indicated a manufacturing date of 2018. You think Apple wanted to have HomePods sat around in warehouses for 3 years unsold?
No proof in your statement that it failed. You're welcome to your opinion, but no evidence provided.
Billions of people in Apple's ecosystem. For most, that's not a con & definitely not any indication of failure.
"Those issues haven't been resolved" - what issues? All of ours work just fine, and were purchased from release date until discontinue date of the 1st gen. Most of ours are definitely from different production batches - we generally bought one at a time, and only 1 x pair purchased together.
Sure Apple cuts prices. New Mac mini M2 is $100 cheaper than previous version. The new HomePod is released at $50 cheaper than the previous version release price.
So people got old inventory? So what? Doesn't mean there was old inventory everywhere or that old inventory was the only inventory.
People always want to jump to conclusions...
I literally provided proof which you chose to ignore.
Apple doesn’t cut prices of products mid-cycle.
You’re evidently clueless as to how warehousing works. You really think Apple shoves new stock at the front of a massive shelf in their warehouse then only pick from the front so that inventory never gets turned over? Apple’s well known for its tight inventory control, stock sat in warehouses costs money. In any case why have people never received old stock with any other product?
Why did Apple cancel it if it was anything but a failure?
You’re making the most absurd statements to try and support your ridiculous conclusion despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary.
Hey, and I literally provided proof that Apple has cut prices mid-cycle, and on a product that wasn't a failure.
The biggest evidence that Apple doesn't see the full-sized HomePod as a failure is the fact that they just released a second-generation full-sized HomePod. If there's anyone who knows Apple's warehousing situation as well as the financial details on the OG HomePod, it's probably Apple, right? The people who have the best access to Apple's internal info, and who have the most experience at selling this type stuff successfully are the ones who made the judgement call to issue a second-generation full-sized HomePod. So who's more likely to be right about this? Apple, or keyboard jockeys who want to insist that the thing is a failure?
16 years ago doesn't really count.
No one seems to be able to explain why Apple would cancel what was apparently a successful product, and why in 2021 were they still shipping out HPs made in 2018? Did Apple massively over-order? Or did they just decide it was a good strategy to pile them up in a warehouse for years for some reason?
You provided no proof against my possibilities. You continue to state your opinion as fact, which it is not.
In response to your reply, I made no comments/statements about Apple's supply chain. Not even an inference.
Please read my replies again, without the attitude or emotions.
It is possible that your opinions prevents you from seeing other possibilities.
My proof was the fact that Apple has an excellent supply chain, therefore component availability was not an issue. And as I said, HomePods from 2018 were being sold in 2021 so they were in storage from way before COVID hit supply chains. It really isn't that complicated to understand.
You still apparently believe that it is only an opinion that Apple has an excellent supply chain, an "opinion" you apparently don't share?
nicholfd said: Component availability, production capacity availability, etc. COVID was happening...
Component availability and production capacity. What are those two things if not supply chain?
If my statements backed by facts are actually opinion, then what are your statements? Fact, I suppose, and not your opinion?
Still looking for proof... You have inside information regarding the components that the original HomePod requires? You have inside information regarding where it was produced & production capacity? You have inside information regarding when Apple planned to release the 2nd gen HomePod? Nope - I didn't think so.
Just more supposition. That's my point. YOU DO NOT KNOW! I DO NOT KNOW. Rest is simple BS. Period.
Wow. This one is a head scratcher for me. I can't ever remember a tech product failing in the market and then being brought back shortly after in essentially identical form.
Uh - maybe because it didn't fail?
Apple never made any statements about poor sells, or how it did in the market. Apple never made any statements about why the 1st gen was discontinued.
So what do you base your "failing in the market" statement on? Hopefully not ANALyst who pull shit out of their ass...
PS - we have 8 x 1st gen HomePods.
It failed. It was too expensive (why else did Apple cut the price? Apple never cuts prices), and restricted to Apple’s own ecosystem. Those issues haven’t been resolved but at least it’s$m $50 less than the old one, though missing some hardware soo really about the same price.
Besides, just before it was discontinued people were buying them and the serial number indicated a manufacturing date of 2018. You think Apple wanted to have HomePods sat around in warehouses for 3 years unsold?
No proof in your statement that it failed. You're welcome to your opinion, but no evidence provided.
Billions of people in Apple's ecosystem. For most, that's not a con & definitely not any indication of failure.
"Those issues haven't been resolved" - what issues? All of ours work just fine, and were purchased from release date until discontinue date of the 1st gen. Most of ours are definitely from different production batches - we generally bought one at a time, and only 1 x pair purchased together.
Sure Apple cuts prices. New Mac mini M2 is $100 cheaper than previous version. The new HomePod is released at $50 cheaper than the previous version release price.
So people got old inventory? So what? Doesn't mean there was old inventory everywhere or that old inventory was the only inventory.
People always want to jump to conclusions...
I literally provided proof which you chose to ignore.
Apple doesn’t cut prices of products mid-cycle.
You’re evidently clueless as to how warehousing works. You really think Apple shoves new stock at the front of a massive shelf in their warehouse then only pick from the front so that inventory never gets turned over? Apple’s well known for its tight inventory control, stock sat in warehouses costs money. In any case why have people never received old stock with any other product?
Why did Apple cancel it if it was anything but a failure?
You’re making the most absurd statements to try and support your ridiculous conclusion despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary.
Hey, and I literally provided proof that Apple has cut prices mid-cycle, and on a product that wasn't a failure.
The biggest evidence that Apple doesn't see the full-sized HomePod as a failure is the fact that they just released a second-generation full-sized HomePod. If there's anyone who knows Apple's warehousing situation as well as the financial details on the OG HomePod, it's probably Apple, right? The people who have the best access to Apple's internal info, and who have the most experience at selling this type stuff successfully are the ones who made the judgement call to issue a second-generation full-sized HomePod. So who's more likely to be right about this? Apple, or keyboard jockeys who want to insist that the thing is a failure?
16 years ago doesn't really count.
No one seems to be able to explain why Apple would cancel what was apparently a successful product, and why in 2021 were they still shipping out HPs made in 2018? Did Apple massively over-order? Or did they just decide it was a good strategy to pile them up in a warehouse for years for some reason?
Nobody has to explain it. Only you are arguing that it indicates the only explanation & the product is a failure.
And where do you get that they piled them up in a warehouse for years? One Gizmodo article mentioned someone received two & claimed the serial number indicated they were made in 2018. Wow - that's a lot to go on... We know the internet is always accurate...
Whilst, I immediately bought one (and I have the original one), I must say, I am sorely disappointed Apple did not make them work in stereo as I am sure that might have pushed some additional sales. I have absolutely no doubt they could, if they wanted to. I will definitely not be buying two of these newer version HomePods just for that, and I won't be selling my original one for that either, so Apple, you let me and others down. Hopefully, this ability will come with a future update. I get the mini HomePod and this HomePod won't be in stereo but the original HomePod and this new one most definitely could.
When my original HomePod failed (just died one day) for some random reason, Apple said it could not be repaired and I was told I had to buy a replacement. However, this was at least a year or two after then disbanded the original. I was told I was lucky that they still had some left for me to buy. Whether they kept some of the original's just for that or they realised they needed to be able to replace them, which is maybe why it came back, I am not sure.
Having said that, I am sure with the success of the HomePod mini, people will be willing to spend more for a more powerful HomePod, for louder and better sound. It makes perfect sense, like Sonos with multiple speakers for different budgets.
Now, Apple, for heavens sake, make the original HomePod and the new HomePod work in Stereo, it is the least you can do - to your die hard Apple Fans. Thank you.
1984, original Macintosh computer, $2,495. In today’s money, that’s $7,127. 2023, iMac computer 24", $1,299.
2018, original HomePod speaker, $349. In today’s money, that’s $412. 2023, HomePod 2 speaker, $299.
Apple is continually lowering it’s prices, just as the rest of the tech industry is. That is the whole idea behind Moore’s law, not to mention industrial society’s competitive drive to lower costs.
Wow. This one is a head scratcher for me. I can't ever remember a tech product failing in the market and then being brought back shortly after in essentially identical form.
Uh - maybe because it didn't fail?
Apple never made any statements about poor sells, or how it did in the market. Apple never made any statements about why the 1st gen was discontinued.
So what do you base your "failing in the market" statement on? Hopefully not ANALyst who pull shit out of their ass...
PS - we have 8 x 1st gen HomePods.
Hang on - Why would ANY company "discontinue" a product IF it had succeeded in the market place????
Component availability, production capacity availability, etc. COVID was happening...
Or, new model, but same issues as above to get it to market...
Plenty of reasons other than "failing in the market".
And none of us really know why, because Apple generally doesn't share that type of information.
Component availability wasn't an issue. This product never ever shipped (nor was forecast to ship) in the quantities required for it to be hampered by a shortage of components. They components themselves are bog standard and no other audio product (even from companies with far fewer resources than Apple) was impacted.
In the hypothetical case of component shortages you don't have to kill the product, you simply increase the delivery time.
My brother had to wait a full year for a car to be delivered for his daughter and that was due to component supply problems. The car itself of course was not taken off the market.
It's true that none of us really know why but the most likely reason was less than expected performance in the market.
It sat oddly as a product in the first place for a few reasons. Add to that that it was not a 'must have' item and the original pricing really stretched things.
Wow. This one is a head scratcher for me. I can't ever remember a tech product failing in the market and then being brought back shortly after in essentially identical form.
Uh - maybe because it didn't fail?
Apple never made any statements about poor sells, or how it did in the market. Apple never made any statements about why the 1st gen was discontinued.
So what do you base your "failing in the market" statement on? Hopefully not ANALyst who pull shit out of their ass...
PS - we have 8 x 1st gen HomePods.
It failed. It was too expensive (why else did Apple cut the price? Apple never cuts prices), and restricted to Apple’s own ecosystem. Those issues haven’t been resolved but at least it’s$m $50 less than the old one, though missing some hardware soo really about the same price.
Besides, just before it was discontinued people were buying them and the serial number indicated a manufacturing date of 2018. You think Apple wanted to have HomePods sat around in warehouses for 3 years unsold?
No proof in your statement that it failed. You're welcome to your opinion, but no evidence provided.
Billions of people in Apple's ecosystem. For most, that's not a con & definitely not any indication of failure.
"Those issues haven't been resolved" - what issues? All of ours work just fine, and were purchased from release date until discontinue date of the 1st gen. Most of ours are definitely from different production batches - we generally bought one at a time, and only 1 x pair purchased together.
Sure Apple cuts prices. New Mac mini M2 is $100 cheaper than previous version. The new HomePod is released at $50 cheaper than the previous version release price.
So people got old inventory? So what? Doesn't mean there was old inventory everywhere or that old inventory was the only inventory.
People always want to jump to conclusions...
I literally provided proof which you chose to ignore.
Apple doesn’t cut prices of products mid-cycle.
You’re evidently clueless as to how warehousing works. You really think Apple shoves new stock at the front of a massive shelf in their warehouse then only pick from the front so that inventory never gets turned over? Apple’s well known for its tight inventory control, stock sat in warehouses costs money. In any case why have people never received old stock with any other product?
Why did Apple cancel it if it was anything but a failure?
You’re making the most absurd statements to try and support your ridiculous conclusion despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary.
Hey, and I literally provided proof that Apple has cut prices mid-cycle, and on a product that wasn't a failure.
The biggest evidence that Apple doesn't see the full-sized HomePod as a failure is the fact that they just released a second-generation full-sized HomePod. If there's anyone who knows Apple's warehousing situation as well as the financial details on the OG HomePod, it's probably Apple, right? The people who have the best access to Apple's internal info, and who have the most experience at selling this type stuff successfully are the ones who made the judgement call to issue a second-generation full-sized HomePod. So who's more likely to be right about this? Apple, or keyboard jockeys who want to insist that the thing is a failure?
16 years ago doesn't really count.
No one seems to be able to explain why Apple would cancel what was apparently a successful product, and why in 2021 were they still shipping out HPs made in 2018? Did Apple massively over-order? Or did they just decide it was a good strategy to pile them up in a warehouse for years for some reason?
You’re hilarious. You used an absolute term, “never.” I provided evidence otherwise, so you move the goalposts, to amusingly claim “never” only applies to a narrow time window that will be defined by you, based on whatever contrary evidence you would like to exclude.
Also, you may not be aware of this, but the iPhone is Apple’s flagship product, and that mid-model year price-drop was initiated by none other than Steve Jobs (may he be praised), Apple’s flagship CEO. Also, also, that iPhone has only been declared a failure by the peanut gallery critics who were sure its lack of a physical keyboard made it only a novelty toy for unserious people. Total flop. Definitely.
Wow. This one is a head scratcher for me. I can't ever remember a tech product failing in the market and then being brought back shortly after in essentially identical form.
Uh - maybe because it didn't fail?
Apple never made any statements about poor sells, or how it did in the market. Apple never made any statements about why the 1st gen was discontinued.
So what do you base your "failing in the market" statement on? Hopefully not ANALyst who pull shit out of their ass...
PS - we have 8 x 1st gen HomePods.
It failed. It was too expensive (why else did Apple cut the price? Apple never cuts prices), and restricted to Apple’s own ecosystem. Those issues haven’t been resolved but at least it’s$m $50 less than the old one, though missing some hardware soo really about the same price.
Besides, just before it was discontinued people were buying them and the serial number indicated a manufacturing date of 2018. You think Apple wanted to have HomePods sat around in warehouses for 3 years unsold?
No proof in your statement that it failed. You're welcome to your opinion, but no evidence provided.
Billions of people in Apple's ecosystem. For most, that's not a con & definitely not any indication of failure.
"Those issues haven't been resolved" - what issues? All of ours work just fine, and were purchased from release date until discontinue date of the 1st gen. Most of ours are definitely from different production batches - we generally bought one at a time, and only 1 x pair purchased together.
Sure Apple cuts prices. New Mac mini M2 is $100 cheaper than previous version. The new HomePod is released at $50 cheaper than the previous version release price.
So people got old inventory? So what? Doesn't mean there was old inventory everywhere or that old inventory was the only inventory.
People always want to jump to conclusions...
I literally provided proof which you chose to ignore.
Apple doesn’t cut prices of products mid-cycle.
You’re evidently clueless as to how warehousing works. You really think Apple shoves new stock at the front of a massive shelf in their warehouse then only pick from the front so that inventory never gets turned over? Apple’s well known for its tight inventory control, stock sat in warehouses costs money. In any case why have people never received old stock with any other product?
Why did Apple cancel it if it was anything but a failure?
You’re making the most absurd statements to try and support your ridiculous conclusion despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary.
Hey, and I literally provided proof that Apple has cut prices mid-cycle, and on a product that wasn't a failure.
The biggest evidence that Apple doesn't see the full-sized HomePod as a failure is the fact that they just released a second-generation full-sized HomePod. If there's anyone who knows Apple's warehousing situation as well as the financial details on the OG HomePod, it's probably Apple, right? The people who have the best access to Apple's internal info, and who have the most experience at selling this type stuff successfully are the ones who made the judgement call to issue a second-generation full-sized HomePod. So who's more likely to be right about this? Apple, or keyboard jockeys who want to insist that the thing is a failure?
16 years ago doesn't really count.
No one seems to be able to explain why Apple would cancel what was apparently a successful product, and why in 2021 were they still shipping out HPs made in 2018? Did Apple massively over-order? Or did they just decide it was a good strategy to pile them up in a warehouse for years for some reason?
You’re hilarious. You used an absolute term, “never.” I provided evidence otherwise, so you move the goalposts, to amusingly claim “never” only applies to a narrow time window that will be defined by you, based on whatever contrary evidence you would like to exclude.
Also, you may not be aware of this, but the iPhone is Apple’s flagship product, and that mid-model year price-drop was initiated by none other than Steve Jobs (may he be praised), Apple’s flagship CEO. Also, also, that iPhone has only been declared a failure by the peanut gallery critics who were sure its lack of a physical keyboard made it only a novelty toy for unserious people. Total flop. Definitely.
It's so much easier if you all just put elijah on ignore.
It is a weird product for sure. I have the first gen. Sound quality is nice but not great, Siri is incredibly stupid and useless, and I can’t make Siri use Spotify after all these years.
There’s no battery in it so it can’t be temporarily disconnected.
I expected a different product, not a revised one that clearly has been redesigned for cost cutting reasons.
I’m hoping that someone does a tear down on the redone HomePod to see whether Apple changed the design or the components in the power circuitry that had a higher than expected failure rate.
I loved the sound of the original HomePod but the out of warranty repair cost is way too high due to its overly complicated assembly and disassembly process.
Apple obviously doesn’t put a lot of emphasis on maintainability or repairability in the design of their products. The same thing can be said about their assembly costs but they mitigate this with automation and cheap labor. If they had to pay more for manufacturing they’d probably give some of those other quality attributes more consideration.
I got 2 of the old version at $200 each and that’s about the max I’ll pay for them. Buying one is kinda pointless, you really need a pair for them to sound good.
I find a single large HomePod (and its direct competitors) to be very good devices for filling a small to medium volume of space with very pleasant sound for everyone in the space to enjoy, not just the one person sitting in the "sweet spot" that multi-speaker setups tend to impose. This is especially true when the music is a backdrop to whatever else is going on it the space. I think this is pretty close to the types of scenarios that Apple envisioned the device contributing to, i.e., a music player for the Home, not a music player for an individual.
In stark contract, the AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max are singularly targeting the one-listener use cases. If you want a totally immersive listening experience while being able to move around a space nothing really compares to a fantastic set of headphones.
At some level, the less Apple does to impose its collective interpretation of what it thinks constitutes a "great listening experience" delivered by a product the better. Yes, they absolutely have to build audio products with great components, great specs, and high fidelity that hold their own in the competitive marketplace. I'd prefer that they build audio products that allow for more configurability by the listener to meet the individual tastes of the listener.
The HomePod line is okay in this regard, at least within a very limited scope. You can get one speaker for filling space with nice sound. You can get two to compose a stereo pair, but it introduces some spatial constraints. It would be nice for some folks to be able to add a subwoofer and use additional speakers (like HomePod minis) as center and rear speakers for surround sound. This brings in even more constraints if your sound content isn't optimized for the speaker array, not to mention the acoustics of your physical space.
I've reached a point of accepting the inherent compromises of listening to music (and production audio) in space. It's virtually impossible to get perfection so living within the wide gradient of "good enough" is good enough. There are many so many affordable choices to be had on the gradient of good enough. Listening to an Echo Dot in the garage? Sure, it's good enough. Single HomePod in an entertainment space during a party or in the workshop? Absolutely. Everything has a place.
The fallback of course is that if good enough isn't good enough, time to grab the headphones. Ah, sweet relief.
Comments
No one seems to be able to explain why Apple would cancel what was apparently a successful product, and why in 2021 were they still shipping out HPs made in 2018? Did Apple massively over-order? Or did they just decide it was a good strategy to pile them up in a warehouse for years for some reason?
Just more supposition. That's my point. YOU DO NOT KNOW! I DO NOT KNOW. Rest is simple BS. Period.
Correlation does not indicate causation.
And where do you get that they piled them up in a warehouse for years? One Gizmodo article mentioned someone received two & claimed the serial number indicated they were made in 2018. Wow - that's a lot to go on... We know the internet is always accurate...
When my original HomePod failed (just died one day) for some random reason, Apple said it could not be repaired and I was told I had to buy a replacement. However, this was at least a year or two after then disbanded the original. I was told I was lucky that they still had some left for me to buy. Whether they kept some of the original's just for that or they realised they needed to be able to replace them, which is maybe why it came back, I am not sure.
Now, Apple, for heavens sake, make the original HomePod and the new HomePod work in Stereo, it is the least you can do - to your die hard Apple Fans. Thank you.
1984, original Macintosh computer, $2,495.
In today’s money, that’s $7,127.
2023, iMac computer 24", $1,299.
2018, original HomePod speaker, $349.
In today’s money, that’s $412.
2023, HomePod 2 speaker, $299.
Apple is continually lowering it’s prices, just as the rest of the tech industry is. That is the whole idea behind Moore’s law, not to mention industrial society’s competitive drive to lower costs.
In the hypothetical case of component shortages you don't have to kill the product, you simply increase the delivery time.
My brother had to wait a full year for a car to be delivered for his daughter and that was due to component supply problems. The car itself of course was not taken off the market.
It's true that none of us really know why but the most likely reason was less than expected performance in the market.
It sat oddly as a product in the first place for a few reasons. Add to that that it was not a 'must have' item and the original pricing really stretched things.
I expected a different product, not a revised one that clearly has been redesigned for cost cutting reasons.